by John Mark Reynolds [author, academic]

Wednesday the sun came up and I was happy. It is still morning in America. The candidate I voted for did not win, but I got to vote in a free and fair election. Power will be passed peacefully and the Constitution is intact.

We should never take that for granted.

The United States of America is still a marvelous place to live. People suffering in the Sudan would trade our worst day, economically speaking, for their best. Citizens in more prosperous China do not have the chance to throw the rascals out. (more…)

by John Mark Reynolds [author, academic]

Proposition 8 would not have passed if it had not been for LDS (Mormon) money and manpower. For their hard work as participants in the process, this small religious group received some of the worst attacks of the political season. They were demonized and stereotyped by opponents of Proposition 8 and sometimes by the mainstream media.

Within the Republican Party the areas dominated by LDS members delivered for John McCain and Sarah Palin. Though not a monolith (paging Mormon Senate Leader Reid), the LDS are some of the most consistent pro-family voters in the nation. Prop 8 did not win on their votes (that took millions of people), but one reason it won was their know how and fervor. (more…)

by John Mark Reynolds [author, academic]

This has always been a Democratic year.

McCain’s best hopes were swamped by the banking meltdown . . . an international crisis that was a long time in the making, but which (short term) was blamed on President Bush.

Before getting to the good stuff . . . one reminder:

Vote.

The size of any candidate’s victory matters . . . so if you prefer Senator Obama your vote counts. Polls and predictions don’t count tomorrow and McCain can win so if you prefer Senator McCain, you too should vote. (more…)

by John Mark Reynolds [author, academic]

Recently I was asked the following:

“Fears about the economy. Anger on the campaign trail. Which concerns you most? How should we respond?”

Most of us should resolutely mind our own business in this crisis, act charitably toward neighbors in need, comfort the fearful, and resolutely vote against those who would use this crisis to expand their power. The temptation to respond to every trouble brought to our attention by the media is a snare and a delusion.

It is a snare, because it traps us in fear and wastes time better spent solving problems actually under our control. This is dangerous because fear mongers can con the unwary into accepting tyrants through alarmist rhetoric. (more…)

by John Mark Reynolds [author, academic]

The election is not yet. Much can still happen in this crazy year, and I am not in despair but (as a commentator) four things about the nation and election look true to me right now:

First, let me state the obvious: Senator Obama is winning.

As I have often repeated: this is a Democratic year. John McCain was always running up hill with a fifty pound pack on his back. He might make it, but the stock market crash and credit crash added another one hundred pounds each. Senator Obama ran an uneven campaign, was a tough sell to the American public (compared to other Democratic choices), but he is well on his way to the White House.

Second, the world will not come to an end if Senator Obama wins. My family will go on being my family, my students will continue to be wonderful, and this grand Republic will still be a great place to live. (more…)

by John Mark Reynolds [author, academic]

The debate Tuesday night was a draw.

I agree with McCain more on the issues, so I thought he won on points, but my bias probably accounts for much of this. However, and maybe I was the only one, tonight for the first time, I became afraid of what both politicians, but especially Senator Obama, are proposing in the middle of this serious economic time. Much of it sounded exactly like the sort of thing one reads from the early 1930’s . . . and in a bad way.

I begin to ask myself some “what if” questions . . . and to worry about the economic future. I am pretty sanguine by nature, so that was new to me. (more…)

by John Mark Reynolds [author, academic]

Presidential and Vice-Presidential “debates” aren’t.

They have nothing to do with executive skills and they are not debates. Both candidates have carefully prepared strategies and both memorize “talking points” which they use in the debates.

For some reason, Sarah Palin is blamed for doing this while Joe Biden is not. Sometimes I think this is merely because she has not accumulated a large enough stock of them or that when she uses them she does not always do so artfully.

Much of media cares more for how one says a thing than for what one actually says. (more…)

by John Mark Reynolds [author, academic]

Palin crosses stage and meets Biden over half way. She looks confident and he looks (to me) like a generic candidate.

First, question goes to Biden about the economic plan. He shifts question to attack Bush. His answer is smooth, but dull. Palin connects her answer to the folks. She shifts to John McCain and what he tried to do. Well done. (more…)

by John Mark Reynolds [author, academic]

If I could ask Senator Biden and Governor Palin a question on religion and politics, it would center on their acceptance or repudiation of unfair religious attacks on other candidates this election season.

This has not been a great year for religious tolerance or fair-minded examinations of other religious points of view.

Bigots attacked Governor Mitt Romney for his Mormon faith. Recently religiously ignorant opponents of Governor Palin have attacked the Assemblies of God. Even the good name of the Atlantic has been sullied by such know-nothing rants. (more…)

by John Mark Reynolds [author, academic]

If the election were held today, Senator Obama would win easily.

The election will not be held today and there are still two major events to come.

However, the melt down on Wall Street and the unpopular bail out plan upset the best laid plans of the McCain campaign. McCain could only have caught up immediately by opposing the unpopular plan . . . but he thinks it in the nation’s best interest. You know what he will do in that case!*

The debate, where McCain did very well, was swallowed up in the overall reaction to Wall Street. Senator Obama was solid in that part of the debate, which was good news for him, because the foreign policy segment went badly for him. (more…)